Jordan Wood was originally a candidate for U.S. House District 2 on the June 9 ballot. Read his answers from our primary election survey here.
Personal/biographical information pertinent to the role
Born and raised in Lewiston, son of a teacher and a pastor. Served as Chief of Staff to Rep. Katie Porter and VP of End Citizens United. After January 6th, co-founded a group to beat election deniers.
Top three priorities
First, end the corruption: ban corporate PAC and lobbyist money, ban congressional stock trading and overturn Citizens United, because nothing else gets fixed until we fix that. Second, lower the cost of living: Medicare for All, childcare capped at $10 a day and crack down on the hedge funds buying up Maine homes. Third, stop Trump’s lawlessness and defend the rule of law, including abolishing ICE. Crack down on corruption, lower costs and defend our democracy. That’s the fight.
Why are you running?
I grew up in Lewiston in a family that lived mostly paycheck to paycheck, and I watched Washington work for the people who could buy influence while families like mine struggled. On January 6th, I was barricaded at the US Capitol. Last year, I became a dad. My husband Jake and I are raising our daughter, Ella, in Auburn, and I refuse to hand her a democracy owned by billionaires or a Maine she cannot afford. I’m running to fight for her, and for every family like the one I grew up in.
Our recent poll showed that more than half of Maine’s likely voters want Democrats to control Congress, and electability has already been a major issue in this race. Why are you more electable in November than the other candidates?
I’m the only candidate who has worked in Congress, so no one is better equipped to dismantle Susan Collins’ case that her experience delivers for Maine. I’m also ready and vetted: 15 months answering Mainers’ questions at 40+ town halls in all 16 counties. No surprises left. I bring a grassroots army and deep roots in the 2nd District, where we lose if we get buried. And I’m a very progressive Democrat with true crossover appeal, endorsed by pro-democracy Republicans like Adam Kinzinger.
What are the highlights of your plan to lower the cost of living for Mainers?
Childcare capped at $10 a day per child. Passing Medicare for All. On housing: stop hedge funds from buying up Maine homes, ban the algorithms that fix rents, and build faster. Cut taxes to 1% on the first $50,000 a family earns and restore the $5 cap on overdraft fees that Collins voted to let banks raise. All of it paid for by a 2% tax on fortunes over $50 million, not by the middle class. Costs stay high because someone’s profit depends on it.
Would you support term limits for members of Congress? Why or why not?
Yes. In 1996, Susan Collins promised Mainers she would serve two terms. She is now asking for a sixth. That tells you what Washington does to people who stay too long. I support term limits for Congress: 12 years at most. But let’s be honest: term limits alone won’t fix a system where billionaires fund the campaigns and lobbyists write the bills. Pair them with a corporate PAC ban and public financing, or we’ll just get a rotating cast of politicians owned by the same donors.
Would you support Medicare for All — expanding the current social program to all Americans? Why or why not?
Yes. When my twin brother and I turned three, my mom went back to work for one reason: so our family could see a doctor. No parent should have to do that math in the richest country on earth. I support Medicare for All: automatic enrollment, no premiums, no deductibles, no copays, while keeping private insurance for anyone who wants it. While we build the votes, I’ll fight for a public option, Medicare negotiation on every prescription drug and adding dental, vision and hearing coverage.
Would you support eliminating the filibuster? Why or why not?
We must eliminate the filibuster. The filibuster isn’t in the Constitution. It’s a relic Republicans have abused for decades, letting 41 senators and the lobbyists behind them veto whatever Americans vote for. It’s why we can’t codify Roe, pass voting rights or get big money out of politics. Collins defends it because gridlock is the point: she gets to sound reasonable while nothing ever changes. When Democrats win the majority and presidency, we must abolish it.
Graham Platner ran on getting money out of politics. If you share this priority, what is your plan to do so?
Getting money out of politics is my life’s work. At End Citizens United, I built the No Corporate PAC Pledge: 1% of Democrats refused corporate PAC money when I started. Today it’s 20%+. In the Senate: a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, a ban on corporate PAC and lobbyist donations, a congressional stock trading ban and public financing modeled on Maine’s clean elections. And I live it: no corporate, lobbyist or AIPAC money, ever. Graham was right. I’ll finish the job.
Do you support an end to U.S. military aid in Israel? Is Israel committing a genocide in Gaza? Why or why not?
Yes, it is a genocide, and American military aid should not fuel it. I support the Block the Bombs Act to halt offensive weapons transfers now, with strict conditions on any remaining aid, because partnership is never a blank check. Nothing about self-defense justifies starving children. There’s a difference between the Israeli people and the Netanyahu government. Hamas must disarm and have no role in Gaza’s future. And unlike Susan Collins, I’ll never take a dime from AIPAC.
Should ICE exist in its current form? If so, explain your answer. If not, what should exist instead?
No. This week in Biddeford, ICE agents shot and killed a Maine man in front of his wife. He wasn’t even the person they were looking for. ICE is terrorizing our neighbors and it has to end. I’d abolish ICE and replace it with an enforcement agency accountable to the rule of law: identified officers, judicial warrants, real oversight, prosecution for agents who break it. We must establish an agency that treats immigrants with dignity and restores trust with the American people.
Give Susan Collins a performance grade. What, if anything, has she done well?
Susan Collins has earned an F. Collins was an effective Senator in a different era. It is no longer enough to issue “concerned” statements while Trump tramples our Constitution. She put Kavanaugh on the Court and she has no regrets, even after Roe fell. She backed reckless tax cuts for the wealthy. She gave a blank check to ICE while they shoot down Mainers. She is objectively failing us.
Collins is running on her seniority in the Senate, including her position as chair of the appropriations committee. How do you plan to refute her argument that Maine benefits from her experience?
Susan Collins pretends that she alone can wave a magic wand to bring funding home to Maine. That is a lie. Seniority is only worth what you do with it. Susan Collins chairs Appropriations while Trump illegally freezes the very funds her committee passes. Her answer is a strongly worded letter. What good is the gavel if you won’t swing it? Her pitch also has a catch: that chairmanship exists only if the party enabling all of this keeps the Senate. That is simply unacceptable.